Michigan woman who filed fake rape report in court over cancer scam

1:03 PM, July 12, 2013

Sara Ylen of Lexington listens during testimony by Kristi Groth, Clinical Manager with Mercy Hospice, of Bloomfield Hills during her preliminary examination, Tuesday July 9, 2013, inside Sanilac County District Court 73A Judge Gregory Ross' court room. Ylen is charged with four counts of false pretense, one count of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of health care fraud. / Times Herald / Associated Press

Ylen took notes through some of hearing, which was held to establish whether there was enough evidence to send Ylenís six felony count charges to Sanilac County Circuit Court.

The 38-year-old Lexington woman was charged in May with four counts of false pretense, one count of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of health care fraud.

She was arrested after Michigan State Police investigators said her cancer claims were false.

During the preliminary examination, Duncan said Ylen was admitted to Mercy Hospice in June 2009 for multiple myeloma. Ylen was using a wheelchair during Duncanís initial evaluation, she said.

Ylen received oral and liquid morphine and symptom management for nerve pain, back pain from masses on her spine and generalized pain, Duncan said.

Michael Ryan, vice president of Mission Integration for Trinity Home Health Services, a home care and hospice division of Trinity Health, said Mercy Hospice received a total of $99,656 from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan from 2009 to 2011 for Ylenís care.

Kristi Groth, clinical manager for Mercy Hospice, said Ylen was discharged from the agencyís care in 2011.

ďShe was discharged because she no longer met criteria,Ē Groth said, adding the criteria for someone to receive hospice care included lab work numbers that had reached a certain level, functional status decline and a disease thatís progressing.

Once labs remain stable for a certain amount of time, a patient would no longer meet the terms of service, Groth said.

Duncan and Groth said Ylen initially qualified for treatment based on Duncanís evaluation and records Ylen provided. Many of those records came from Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Duncan said.

But those documents donít exist in CTCA records, or the records of the groupís Illinois hospital, Midwestern Regional Medical Center, according to Stephen Kroll, general counsel at CTCA.

Kroll said there is a record of a person named Sara Ylen calling the groupís 800 number to schedule an appointment for evaluation. But records indicate Ylen never showed up for the evaluation, he said.

Groth and Kroll also discussed discrepancies between documentation Ylen provided and documentation their respective agencies usually would provide.

Ryan Budde, a pastor at Croswell Wesleyan Church, discussed a fund-raiser held for Ylen in June 2012, in which more than $10,000 was collected to help Ylen with bills.

That same week the church received a package in the mail from an anonymous person, providing information about Ylen.

Budde said the fund-raiser was initiated by church members, not by Ylen herself.

More than $1,000 from that fund-raiser was directed toward Ylenís bills, such as doctorís visits, rent and gas, Budde said.

In an unrelated matter, Ylen also is charged in St. Clair County with filing a false felony report and tampering with evidence. That case was bound over to St. Clair County Circuit Court on June 18.

The charges follow the recent release from prison of a man convicted of sexually assaulting her in 2003.

James Grissom was tried and convicted of sexually assaulting Ylen in 2003. He served almost 10 years in prison before being released in November 2011.

He was released when investigators in Michigan, California and Colorado determined that Ylen had reported other instances of sexual assault but could not substantiate the claims.

The Michigan Supreme Court granted Grissom a new trial after learning of the unsubstantiated claims.

St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendling requested the dismissal instead of a new trial, citing the length of time since the alleged incident and new evidence that was discovered.

The Times Herald normally does not identify victims of sexual assault. Ylen was identified when she asked the paper to tell her story.